# Books that traumatized you as a child **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200 "2009-02-24T15:42:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/81 "2009-02-25T13:24:54Z")
I think teachers should hand out **Where the Red Fern Grows** as soon as the classes finishes **Old Yeller** to show what real sadness is all about. I grew up in a redneck area where lots of kids had hunting dogs in their family so even the so-called tough kids weren’t immune. The book screwed us all up for a while and then…we got to watch the movie. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/82 "2009-02-25T13:40:23Z")
This subject comes up every couple of years and I always say the same thing- J.M. Barrie’s PETER PAN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS. I was little, perhaps pre-school & I wanted Mom to read me the story of Peter Pan. For some reason- perhaps it was checked out, the actual book PETER PAN was picked up by Mom but another Barrie book PPiKG (and other stories). HOOK & maybe the most recent PAN movie show the basic story- it’s the origin story. Little Peter didn’t want to grow up, deliberately fell out of his pram to be taken by the fairies to N-N-land. But after a while, he missed his mother & so flew up to his nursery window only to find… _Bars on THE FREAKIN’ WINDOW AND HIS MOTHER IN THERE CARING FOR ANOTHER BABY AND OBLIVIOUS TO LITTLE PETER’S CRIES FROM OUTSIDE!!!_ I went into long sobbing hysterics. That was the most horrible thing Mom could have read to me! ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/83 "2009-02-25T13:44:36Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > I stumbled across a dog-eared copy recently at a library sale. Though it’s probably been over a quarter-century since I saw it last, I recognized the book instantly, mixed in among a pile of terminally fatigued Sweet Valley High paperbacks. It was a strange sensation to peruse it again, vividly recalling that sick thrill of anxiety that kept me from going into the basement alone for weeks, for fear of hearing the THUD, THUD, THUD of a rubber ball come bouncing out of the darkness. (Fortunately I live in Florida now, where there are no cellars.) **Terrifel** , that was one of the best posts I have ever read on the SDMB. And I remember that story about the girl with the red rubber ball! I didn’t see it in a book though … at our school we had these cheap magazine readers that may have been part of the Weekly Reader empire, except they featured short fiction stories instead of kid news events. They were certainly printed on that thin and fuzzy newsprint paper, like the Weekly Reader, with one color illustrations where the blobs of color (usually sickly blue or a weird salmon color) were always a little off the outline of the drawings. ANYWAY, it was a freaky story. I’m glad you tracked down more information about Margaret Ronan. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/84 "2009-02-25T13:44:58Z")
> [@Beadalin](#): > > My Dad was German, and that’s why we had an illustrated copy of the [Struwwelpeter](http://www.amazon.com/Struwwelpeter-English-Translation-Heinrich-Hoffmann/dp/0486284697/ref=pd_sim_b_1) stories. I was completely repulsed and fascinated by them. Little boys getting ground up into sausages and having their thumbs snipped off by scissors, etc. Creepy. My mom is German. I hated that book. It is in my bookshelf, but not where the grandkids will find it. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/85 "2009-02-25T14:13:05Z")
[Baleful Beasts and Eerie Creatures](http://www.amazon.com/Baleful-Beasts-Eerie-Creatures-Norton/dp/0528802119/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235570991&sr=8-1), particularly the first story, “The Patchwork Monkey”. Scared the living crap out of me. (ETA: looking at the Amazon reviews, I’m not the only one) I was also an avid reader of ghost anthologies, which gave me a near-continuous string of nightmares (I was well-read, but not very bright). Oddly, my fear of ghosts and creepies completely disappeared once I hit puberty. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/86 "2009-02-25T14:42:55Z")
> [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](#): > > **1984** itself… _shudder_ Still creeps me out. No other book ever had that effect on me. You should know that George Orwell worked _really_ hard to get it right: [https://1984-e20.wikispaces.com/file/view/g.o\_writing.jpg](https://1984-e20.wikispaces.com/file/view/g.o_writing.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/87 "2009-02-25T15:00:01Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I mentioned this in another thread awhile back. I had a book of short horror stories that I’d ordered through my elementary school when I was eight or so and a few that stand out are the one about the girl with the ribbon around her neck and when her new husband untied it her head fell off:eek: . [The Adventure of the German Student](http://arthursclassicnovels.com/arthurs/irving/german10.html), by Washington Irving? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/88 "2009-02-25T15:54:56Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > [The Adventure of the German Student](http://arthursclassicnovels.com/arthurs/irving/german10.html), by Washington Irving? That’s not it, but thanks; that was fun to read!I would imagine the story I read was somewhat cribbed from that and simplified for young readers. In the last thread I mentioned it, some kind Doper (\*\*Auntie Pam \*\*maybe?) linked me to a book of short stories that contains it, though not the original book where I saw it. If she or anyone else can recall I’ll be much obliged! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/89 "2009-02-25T16:31:04Z")
I’m almost certain that I read it in one of the _Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark_ anthologies. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/90 "2009-02-25T16:34:36Z")
[In A Dark, Dark Room](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/In-a-Dark-Dark-Room-and-Other-Scary-Stories/Alvin-Schwartz/e/9780064440905) has “The Green Ribbon”, which I think rips off Irvine’s story. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/91 "2009-02-25T16:39:26Z")
**Humpty Dumpty** did me no favors as a kid. > [@Zsofia](#): > > I’m almost certain that I read it in one of the _Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark_ anthologies. Oh yes… those were awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/92 "2009-02-25T16:50:09Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Behind The Attic Wall. Frickin’ loved that book, but yeah, creepy. At the end, the uncle dies and she hears the voice of a third doll in the attic, presumably the uncle in doll form. We never see him, though; she accidentally burns the place down first. > > ETA: Durn you, **Shirley**! 😉 SCHWEEEEEET! It isn’t often I can actually provided assistence in the WTH book is this? ( Never read it. Just searched my own library’s catalog. Got it on reserve to see if it creeps me out.) ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/93 "2009-02-25T16:53:49Z")
**Helter Skelter**. I was 13 when I read it. The fact that it was real, that you never know when some notjob whaclo could just decide to take you out was terrifying. **Salem’s Lot** - I couldn’t sleep with the lights off for weeks. In the doctor’s office there was this book of religious short stories for kids. In one story, and kid goes to visit his friend in the hospital. The friend is dying, and thinks he has to have his hand raised so Jesus knows to take him. So the kid sneaks back into the hospital to sit with the kid and hold his hand up until he dies. Or maybe I’m misremembering the whole thing. Very odd. StG ---
**Author:** ![mariposalabrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@mariposalabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mariposalabrown)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/94 "2009-02-25T16:56:35Z")
That green ribbon story was from\*\* In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories\*\*. There also was a story about a man with huge teeth in it that scared the bejesus out of me. It’s a total baby book, for really young readers, like 5 year olds. Really don’t understand that. This thread has made my amazon list a mile long. I am totally going to the library today. Also, I read Wait Till Helen Comes last night for the millionth time, and it is still really eerie. Man, so many memories, I have read almost all these books! I was definitely the little girl that checked out all the haunted house and true ghost books from the library a zillion times only to have to sleep with the lights on. ETA: Wow, y’all are so fast with the answers! I love it! ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/95 "2009-02-25T17:15:38Z")
Ooooh, so many did. I was constantly freaked out by things I read. I remember running to my mother and trying to tell her how horrible it was that all the good animals were dying in The Last Battle. I was six maybe? Another was these books by John Christopher. [The Tripods - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tripods) Anyone remember those? The woven wire cap, seeing the tripods coming from a long way off… Nightmare after nightmare. I have found the first two in random bookstores but am waiting to find the third before I read them again. Apparently there is a prequel as well. Yipe! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/96 "2009-02-25T17:27:18Z")
Never read the Tripod books, but I remember when _Boys Life_ magazine serialized one of them (I think it was _The White Mountains_) in comic form in the Eighties (which I see is mentioned in the Wiki article). Very strange, but didn’t seem scary to me at all. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/97 "2009-02-25T17:27:36Z")
Thanks all for your help. It was neither **In a Dark Dark Room** (reading level was more for 10 year olds) nor **Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark** ( the one I’m looking for would have been published around 1976). My nephew may soon be receiving these, though! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/98 "2009-02-25T17:33:40Z")
When I was a kid, I found a bunch of used copies of the “Alfred Hitchcock Presents…” horror collections. (Sample titles: _Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories for Late at Night_; _Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories They Wouldn’t Let Me Do on TV_; _Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories to Be Read With the Door Locked_) Those books freaked young **spoke-** right out. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/99 "2009-02-25T17:50:02Z")
I’ve only read half of the thread and I have go to class right now, but I’ll mention that **Lord of the Flies** freaked me out so bad as a kid that I actually didn’t like touching the book after that. It was like the book itself was somehow contaminated. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200/100 "2009-02-25T17:50:28Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > Oh, oh, oh, I just did this a couple of weeks ago, during a Livejournal discussion of whether or not _It_ was gruesome that ran off track. I’m not writing it all up again, so I’m going to quote myself: \ Ooh, Graham Masterton! Yeah, he’s not for the squeamish. I think he tries to outdo himself with how disgustingly gory he can be in each successive book, but the one you describe (which I think has the alternate title “Ritual,” because I’ve read the book but never read one called “Feast”) is probably one of the worst. He makes the gore in Stephen King’s books look like a cheerful walk in the park. He’s one of my favorite horror authors. 🙂 But yeah, I had trouble getting through that one too. As for books and stories that traumatized me as a child, there were two: **83 Hours Till Dawn** , the story of a real-life heiress (I think her name was Barbara Mackie or Mackle…too lazy to go look it up) who was kidnapped and buried alive. That book seriously freaked me out, and for many years I had an irrational (well, maybe not so irrational!) fear of being buried alive. I read it when I was about 10 or 11, and never again since. IIRC the heiress was rescued safely, so at least that’s something. The other one was a short story in a book of children’s stories, about a man who drew cats. I think it was Japanese, and the man was a monk. He painted pictures of cats on all the paper walls of the monastery, and one night somebody tried to break in and kill him and the cats came to life and ate the guy. The monk woke up the next morning and found the cat pictures on the wall with their mouths dripping in blood. Very creepy for a kid story. Cool, but creepy. Oddly, I also read things like **Helter Skelter** , \*\*The Ungodly \*\*(the story of the Donner party) and serial killer biographies as a young kid, and found them fascinating. They didn’t bother me at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/487200.md?page=6)